The following was authored by an NK News correspondent who wrote anonymously for security reasons.

Visitors to the DPRK during periods of international diplomatic tension such as the one we recently experienced tend to find that, perhaps contrary to their expectations, society inside the country carries on as normal. The only noteworthy sources of societal stress in the DPRK in April 2016, for instance, were a universal fatigue brought on by 70 days of early starts (at 5 a.m. instead of 6 a.m.) and limitations placed on private commercial activities in order to supply additional corvée labor for